Government & Politics
Legislature taking up COVID-19 tweaks to help with marriage licenses, drivers licenses
The Minnesota Legislature will take up a number of minor tweaks intended to ease the disruption of COVID-19 to day-to-day aspects of life. They include a time extension to out-out-state drivers licenses, and allowing people to get marriage licenses without in-person appearances. Lawmakers will also take up affordable insulin legislation after the issue first failed […]
Sen. Scott Jensen’s national profile rises, while medical authorities question his claims
State Sen. Scott Jensen has rocketed to national notoriety this week after suggesting that the Minnesota Department of Health was “coaching” doctors to rule COVID-19 as a cause of death in some suspected cases without lab confirmation. The implication — even if unintended by the Chaska family doctor — is that COVID-19 deaths are being […]
Analysis: A crack in Minnesota’s bipartisan wall against the pandemic
Gov. Tim Walz has done what would have been unimaginable just a month ago. He’s forced Minnesotans to postpone weddings and graduations. He’s shut down favorite watering holes and restaurants. He’s decided who can go to work, and even the acceptable reasons for leaving home. The pain — more than 350,000 Minnesotans have already applied […]
Scott Jensen, GOP senator, family doctor, makes debut on Fox News’ ‘Ingraham Angle’
State Sen. Scott Jensen, the Republican family doctor from Chaska, made his debut appearance on Fox News’ “Ingraham Angle” to criticize recently issued CDC guidance on how to classify COVID-19 deaths. Jensen joins a chorus of Fox News personalities and contributors like Tucker Carlson and Brit Hume, who have begun arguing that the country is […]
Walz extends stay-home order until May 4 in Minnesota COVID-19 fight
Minnesotans, prepare to continue hunkereing down until May 4. Gov. Tim Walz on Wednesday extended his stay-at-home order for three weeks, telling Minnesotans to stay at home except for essential business or errands. “Our intention is to save every life in this,” Walz said, adding that “The only vaccine we have right now is social […]
How should Minnesota vote in a pandemic? Simon says, by mail
How should Minnesota vote in the middle of pandemics? Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon on Wednesday proposed legislation that would grant him one-time, emergency authority to conduct the upcoming election by mail during the COVID-19 outbreak. “The administration of elections has become a public health issue. Minnesotans should not have to choose between their […]
Minn. begins distributing extra $600 a week in unemployment, among first in nation
Minnesota is among the first states in the nation to begin approving the additional $600 per week in unemployment insurance from the federal government’s $2.2 trillion economic relief package for COVID-19. In an email to staff Wednesday, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development Commissioner Steve Grove said the department had already authorized 192,135 […]
Walz to announce stay home news; legislative committees meeting virtually
Gov. Tim Walz is expected to use a 2 p.m. news conference to discuss the stay home order he issued late last month. Walz’s extraordinary move, which followed the closure of schools, bars and restaurants and banning of large gatherings, has succeeded in flattening Minnesota’s COVID-19 infection curve, he said Tuesday. The stay home order […]
Walz dons a mask, House leader flips the bird
Gov. Tim Walz on Tuesday signaled he may prepare easing his state-home order, originally issued through Friday, April 10, as the latest tally of COVID-19 infections and deaths appear to show Minnesota’s efforts to slow the spread are working. “We are seeing pretty strong indications we are pushing that curve back. We’re bending it a […]
Video: DFL House majority leader raises middle finger at GOP state senator
House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, apologized Tuesday for appearing to make an obscene gesture during a press conference by state Sen. Scott Jensen, R-Chaska, who announced a deal on emergency insulin that has yet to be signed and finalized. The logjam dates back to 2019, when DFLers and Republicans failed to reach an […]
Minnesota lawmakers approve expansion of workers’ compensation for front line workers to include COVID-19
Minnesota lawmakers on Tuesday gave final approval to legislation that will ensure first-responders, health care workers and child care workers are covered by workers’ compensation if they contract COVID-19. The Minnesota House on Tuesday voted 130-4, while the Senate had a unanimous 67-0 vote. Lawmakers — some donning face masks recently recommended by health officials — […]
2021 legislative session: Budget deficit with a dose of redistricting = fun!
State budget officials are warning everyone who will listen that the deep freeze of the Minnesota economy means budget woes are coming. “We are waiting for a tsunami of revenue to not show up,” state economist Laura Kalambokidis warned senators, the Star Tribune reported Tuesday. If the metaphor was awkward, the point was still made. […]